


A New Path

by starlitnight782



Category: Sly Cooper (Video Games)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29490582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlitnight782/pseuds/starlitnight782
Summary: (Takes place during Sly 4) Aaron is a successful Parisian ballet dancer, who is known throughout Europe. He had always lived a life that was free from danger and chaos, even accumulating a bit of minor wealth from his success. However, due to unfortunate events, a certain thief is brought into his life and changes it forever. Will this change be for his benefit or will it destroy him is the question...
Relationships: Sly Cooper/Original Character(s)





	1. Unpleasant Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Yo what's up guys, so this is my first story on archive of our own. I literally don't know what people write here but I'm gonna assume it is for extra info
> 
> Anyways, this is gonna be a retelling of Sly 4 and I'm gonna add some extra stuff like Henriette in it. Aaron is my oc, he is basically a red fox like Carmelita but has short wavy blonde hair and blue eyes.
> 
> Kudos and Reviews are super appreciated! Lemme know if you liked this.

It was yet another quiet night in Paris.  
Sly, Bentley, and Murray had just finished preparations to grab the dagger from the art museum.  
Sly was absolutely confident, even though he hadn’t stole anything in AGES. After all, he was a Cooper, stealing was what he was born to do.  
“Guys, relax. This mission is going to be a piece of cake, trust me.”  
Bentley shook his head and sighed, “Don’t jinx it Sly, we haven’t even gotten out of the van yet.”  
Sly chuckled as he jumped out of the van with Murray right behind him.  
“Alright everyone remembers where they are supposed to go, correct? Do I need to go over anything?”  
Sly smirked confidently as he twirled his cane in his hand, “I’m good, Bentley. How about you, Murray?”  
Murray cracked his knuckles together, “Don’t worry everyone, I got this. Nothing is going to stop the Murray tonight!”  
Sly smiled, “Glad to hear it bud! Now let’s get this over with!”  
Currently in the streets…  
Aaron was walking the streets trying to get home. His shift had ended very late tonight at the ballet theatre, and he was super exhausted from his latest performance.  
His legs felt like they weighed a ton, and his apartment was still a mile away by foot.  
Note to self…I need to get a car one of these days, I simply can’t do this long commute by foot anymore.  
He sighed as he saw a grand and beautiful looking building up ahead to his left. He hadn’t ever seen it before but had to admit it was very regal looking compared to the Louvre.  
As he came closer to the entrance of the museum on his left, he noticed two very suspicious looking masked men standing in front of the entrance.  
They looked to be part of the security, or at least that’s what Aaron hoped they were.  
As he got closer, he noticed they didn’t take their eyes off of him for a second.  
Aaron started to get a very uncomfortable feeling in his gut, that told him he needed to get out of there as fast as he possibly could.  
He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about these masked men made him feel so freaked out.  
He decided to try and get them to stop staring at him by reassuring them he meant no harm, “Evening…kind monsieurs…..I am just passing through to get home, could you please let me pass by?”  
The men unfortunately did not back down one bit, nor did they avert their gazes at him either.  
Instead, out of the corner of his eye he saw a third masked rat guard come closer to the other two guards with the same intense gaze.  
Aaron was sweating nervously now.   
You know what, I will just walk on the other side of the street…maybe that will make them happy…they probably think I am a thief or something…  
Doing that only made the problem worse unfortunately. As soon walked across the street and tried to continue moving forward he was greeted by two more masked men with their guns out pointed at him threateningly.  
He heard some of them mutter a couple words to each other as they all tried to get closer to him.  
Aaron kept on backing away, literally so scared for his life, until he backed into yet another freaking guard.  
Within seconds, Aaron was surrounded by like 13 guards.  
Aaron was so frightened. He really was tempted to sob uncontrollably, because he didn’t know what to do.  
Plus, he had nothing to defend himself against these terrifying men.  
What do these men possibly want from me?! Money?! Maybe if I let them grab my bag and make a run for it….  
What was worse was that the police were nowhere to be found, and since it was the dead of night there was not a soul to be found in the streets that could help him.  
Would anyone even hear him if he screamed for help?   
He then let out a loud scream as one of the guards tried to violently yank the fox towards one of them.  
On the rooftops of the museum…..  
Sly was stealthily scaling the rooftops successfully, dodging the security lights and guards with ease.   
He smirked as he masterfully climbed the pipe up to the next platform, “Heh, I knew still had it in me. Still, I should probably still be careful, those choppers seriously aren’t messing around tonight.”  
“Yea you better be EXTRA careful, Sly. If those choppers catch you, you are as good as dead. I hear they have shock bullets that will hurt even WORSE than Carmelita’s pistol.”  
Carmelita….oh god.  
He hoped she never found about this whole endeavor…mostly because he didn’t know how the hell he would ever explain this to her if she did….  
There was that feeling again welling up inside of him. A nagging….awful pain deep in his stomach.  
Part of it was anxiety but also….  
Regret.  
Sly shook his head trying to snap out of his intrusive thoughts, “Come on Sly, you don’t have time to mope around about this…get moving.”  
“Did you say something Sly?”  
He stammered, “Uh no, Bentley. I am almost to the location, just need to find the-”  
“SOMEONE HELP! HEEELP!! Dear god please, anyone!!”  
Sly was interrupted by a very, very loud young male voice from the street below him.  
“Bentley….did you just hear that?!”  
“Yeah! What on earth is going on there??”  
Startled, he quickly whipped his around to try and locate where exactly the cry for aid was coming from.  
Sly then heard the voice again, much more frantic this time, which helped him to find exactly where this was coming from.  
He looked down from the side of the roof and his eyes widened.  
He saw a ton of the museum guards trying to capture a seemingly innocent man on the street.   
Sly’s voice was raised with concern, “Bentley! The guards are attacking someone on the street right now, I have to help them!”  
Bentley commanded, “Sly, you need to focus on getting the dagger! If you go down there you’ll blow your cover! There is way too much security right now for you to risk anything! I will get Murray over there to help hi-  
Sly sighed, “Bentley I’m sorry but I don’t have a choice..”   
On normal circumstances, Sly would follow Bentley’s orders without question…however, this time he simply couldn’t. An innocent person’s life was at stake, and from the looks of it, he was running out of time before the guards did who knows what to him.

Bentley yelled, “Sly, if you get caught by one of the guards down there and screw up this mission I swear to god-”  
Sly had already leapt off the roof and tried his best to whack the crap out of the numerous amounts of guards with his cane.  
He wasn’t as strong as Murray, but he definitely could wipe the majority of these little guards out with enough determination.  
One of the last few guards still standing tried hitting him with their gun, to which Sly stealthily dodged and punched him in the face with his fist.  
Sly let out a deep breath, and walked over to the fox man who was currently shaking in fear.  
He knelt down and spoke to the frightened victim, “Sir….are you alright? Did they hurt you? Steal anything?”  
Aaron looked gratefully at the raccoon that stood before him. “I think my arm may be a bit bruised, but other than I’m fine. T-Thank you sir, oh thank you so much. I owe you my very life. I truly thought I was going to die right there. I…I was so scared…”  
Sly then started to noticed that there were small, subtle tears that were starting to well up in the fox’s eyes.  
At that very moment, Sly got a clear look at his face and was….well, he was a bit mesmerized by his looks for a bit.  
He had medium length, wavy blonde hair, and beautiful blue eyes that reminded him of dazzling sapphires in the gentle moonlight.  
Sly could feel himself blush.  
He hadn’t felt this way about someone since…..well since, Carm.  
He gave the frightened fox a gentle smile, “Everything’s going to be alright….you’re safe with me, I promise. You got a name?”  
Aaron muttered bashfully, “I-I’m Aaron. Who are you?”  
“Why I am the one, and only Sly…..well my full name is Sly Cooper actually. Please to meet you, Aaron. Though I do wish I had met such a lovely man in different circumstances, heh.”  
Aaron smiled a bit. Sly was….well, he was gorgeous. He wasn’t going to deny it.  
To be saved from certain death and have his rescuer be so…..dreamy….he felt like he was the luckiest man in the WORLD at that moment in time.  
“SLY!! DO YOU HEAR ME??”  
Sly was ripped out of his conversation with Aaron to the worried yells of Bentley through his binocucom, “Yes, Bentley. Very, very clearly. A bit too clearly actually…”  
“Thank goodness. I am so happy you are safe. Now, me and Murray have already disabled the security lasers and guards for the museum electric grid while you were gone, so when you get the key you should be able to get in there no problem.”  
“Thanks Bentley, I’m going to head in there now. I’ll meet you all at the van when I get the dagger.”  
“Roger that. See you then.”  
Sly then looked at Aaron and smiled, “Well, I would love to chat with you more, but me and my friends are busy on a mission here and we simply have no time to waste. We are kind of….stealing something from that museum, haha. Long story.”  
Aaron nodded, “Oh, I see….well, thank you, again. Hope to see you around.”  
Right as both of them were about to part ways, Aaron had a thought pop into his head.  
So…he is robbing the museum owner, huh? Maybe I should get some pay back at that jerk and their guards as well….after all, one of those asshole guards did manage to steal my priceless scarf. It was a Galbacchi brand scarf too….so expensive….besides this brave man literally just saved my life too. This is only fair.  
Aaron turned to face Sly just as he was about to leave and gently tugged his arm, “Wait….would you mind if I helped you?”  
Sly raised his eyebrow at him, very surprised at what he just heard, although secretly his heart fluttered at the thought of spending more time with Aaron, “You…want to help me? I appreciate the thought, but why?”  
Aaron smiled, “You said you were robbing from the museum owner, correct? And the museum owner is responsible for those horrible men that attacked me….so I figure, this is the best way to get some payback, don’t you think? Plus, you literally just saved my life, Sly. I owe you a HUGE favor.”  
Sly nodded, very much understanding where Aaron was coming from. “These are all very sound points and I would love the extra company….but I must warn you, it is probably going to be very, very dangerous. Would you be ok with dealing with life threatening situations…all for the sake of getting back at them?”  
Aaron nodded confidently, “Absolutely. I am not going to sit idly by while those guards and whomever they work with run free. Please, let me help you. I don’t know if it matters but I am a professional dancer and come from a family line of doctors and nurses. I am not strong, nor smart…but I promise you, I will do anything within my skills to make sure you succeed.”  
Sly thought for a bit about this.  
A dancer huh? And he says he is a healer...hmm…this could actually be quite a big help to us after all. I mean Bentley has basic medical stuff that he always brought with us in the van and knew how to do wound cleaning…..but he didn’t exactly have extreme medical experience.  
Eh sure, why not. It’ll be nice to have new people in the gang again.   
Plus, with the way this time travelling problem was going, he could tell things were probably going to get really hairy soon. They were going to need all the help they could get to save his ancestors.  
Sly smiled and held his hand out towards Aaron happily, “Welcome to the Cooper Gang, Aaron.”  
To be Continued…….


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cooper gang gets a new member lmaoo

Aaron shook Sly’s hand shyly and smiled.  
Wow….I am actually doing this, haha!  
Aaron then felt a wave of anxiety wash over him as he thought about this.  
Ohhhh man…..I am actually doing this…holy crap…  
Sly noticed Aaron’s sudden look of worry and was concerned.  
“Um…Aaron? Are you alright? You look like you are seriously going to be sick…”  
Aaron’s thoughts were interrupted by Sly’s comforting voice.  
“Ah, no! No, I am not sick don’t worry….though I will admit I’m a tiny bit afraid of heights…”  
Sly nodded and gave a smile of relief that nothing was wrong.  
“Ah, well that’s certainly good to know. How about you wait for me on top of the museum sunroof opening, when we get up there in a bit, and then we will get out of there when I am done. Sound fair?”  
Aaron was a little nervous about how exactly this risky plan was going to work with the numerous guards and all, but he didn’t show it.   
Besides, this was the man who had just knocked a bunch of them out a couple minutes ago, so Aaron felt that he was in good hands.  
“Sounds good to me! Lead the way….or uh….how should I go with y-”  
Before Aaron could finish his sentence Sly quickly picked him up and held him in his arms as he jumped across the many rooftops towards the museum.  
Aaron tried to fight the urge to yelp in fear as Sly swiftly leaped high up on to another platform that had a long power wire connected to it. So, he used his cane to slide on it while Aaron fought the urge not to look at the ground below them which was definitely far below enough to make him nervous.  
This wire took them straight to the target location.  
When they landed, Sly glanced over at Aaron who still had his eyes shut trying not to look down. He couldn’t help but give a chuckle.  
“Hey, you okay there, Aaron? You can open your eyes now.”  
Aaron opened his eyes reluctantly and let go of Sly. He put his feet on the ground and gave a sigh of relief.  
“Ah…of course. Haha, you know that actually wasn’t too bad. I am super impressed though, you are really acrobatic, Sly. You would probably make an incredible dancer too, no joke.”  
Sly could feel a bit of blush creeping on his face again….he was really flattered by the compliment, but didn’t want Aaron to see.   
What is wrong with me? Ugh….Sly, pull yourself together!   
“Haha, you really think so? I appreciate it bud, although…I won’t lie, I do know a little bit of ballroom dancing. Maybe I could show you my skills sometime?”  
Aaron gave him a warm and loving smile.  
“I’d love that, haha.”  
Sly couldn’t pry his gaze off of him for a bit. His smile was so mesmerizing to him.  
Wow, so that’s what his smile looks like…..man, I would give anything to see that beautiful smile more often….  
He then cast his eyes on the guard that was lurking in front of the sunroof just around the small roof wall they were hiding behind.  
Sly then turned to Aaron, put a finger to his lips and whispered, “I’m going to go knock out that guard and see if he has the key to that glass opening right there. Stay here until I’m done, you should be safe.”  
Aaron nodded.  
“Alright, but do be careful.”  
Sly winked and nodded in response. He then slowly walked out towards the guard, as quiet as he possibly could.  
After doing a bit of pickpocketing, he finally found what he was looking for.  
Bingo!  
He grabbed the golden key tightly in his hand, and then proceeded to go dispose of the guard, knocking him out with a hard hit from his trusty cane.  
Within seconds, he was able to open the glass door to the roof and peer inside the museum.  
Thanks to Bentley, those pesky security lasers were nowhere to be found.  
And there it was…right below him, the glorious samurai dagger.  
Sly smirked as he attached a rope to his belt and lowered himself down until he was finally inches from the dagger in the glass encasing.  
Hah, this is almost too easy! God, I can’t remember the last time where I had a mission be such a piece of cake!  
He then grabbed the dagger and successfully left his calling card in the encasing, replacing the dagger.  
All of a sudden, the door flew open and scared the literal crap out of Sly.  
“What the hell?!”  
WHAT? But how?! We were super careful not to alert anyone!  
To his shock though standing in the doorway was not one of the guards he was expecting, rather a certain angry policewoman holding a gun.  
“You didn’t really think I was that stupid, did you Ringtail?”  
Meanwhile on the rooftop…..  
Aaron was patiently waiting on the other side of the wall, occasionally moving more inside the confines of it when the security choppers’ lights would go onto the roof.  
He was starting to get a tad bit worried.  
Sly said he wouldn’t take too long….and it has already been 15 minutes since he has last seen him.  
Aaron figured it wouldn’t hurt for him to go stand beside the sunroof opening, and as he got closer he heard muffled voices inside.  
He obviously recognized Sly’s voice but then there was another voice his ears picked up and it sounded female.  
Aaron suddenly gasped in fear as he peered inside the windows and saw that the female voice belonged to a police officer in the room.  
Oh no, no, no…god, we are all going to jail tonight aren’t we?  
He then heard the sound of the grappling hook wire winding back up, as it practically threw Sly back onto the rooftop with great speed.  
Sly then ducked down away from the opening as a barrage of shock bullets flew out of the opening.  
“I’ll call you!”  
Which the woman inside the museum room angrily screamed, “COOPER!!!!”  
Aaron looked at Sly with an extreme amount of confusion and worry.  
“Sly, what happened?! Are you okay?! Do you know her?! Are we all going to get arrested?! What are we going to do?!”  
Sly nervously laughed while rubbing the back of his head. But he then noticed Aaron’s very scared expression again, and tried to comfort him.  
“Long story, I’ll tell you later….and don’t worry, going to jail is not on our to do list for today my friend, I promise you that. However…. if we don’t get out of here right now it very well might be our next stop.”  
That did nothing to ease Aaron’s already rapid heart rate and anxiety at that moment.  
Sly then quickly grabbed Aaron as he jumped on top of a chimney.  
“Hang on tight, okay? Things might get a bit bumpy. Carmelita just alerted a whole bunch of security guards of us, and it isn’t gonna make this any easier to escape.”  
Aaron nodded as he wrapped his arms around Sly’s torso.  
“Who is Carmelita? Is she that woman you were talking to?”  
Sly nodded.  
“Yes. She is a Lead Inspector of Interpol, and well…like I said, I will explain the rest later.”  
Sly then started to talk into his binocucom.  
“Good evening, I’d like to request a ride.”  
Sly then heard Bentley’s irritated voice through his binocucom,  
“Cute, Sly. Now get the hell down here and stop messing around! You have no idea how many security guards are on our tails down here! It’s insane!”  
Sly ran as fast as he could while making sure Aaron was tightly held in his arms, and then finally jumped on to the ledge of the balcony below.  
He then did a massive leap onto the top of the van while still holding Aaron tightly.  
“Alright, guys let’s go!”  
Murray then punched the gas pedal so hard the van literally freaking flew into the streets with incredible high speed.  
Aaron gasped as he held onto the sides of the roof, not used to being in a car that drove at such a high speed before.  
Sly noticed his discomfort and spoke calmly, despite the fact that there was so much noise and the van was crashing into shit every five seconds.  
“Don’t worry. Once we get to a good spot, I’ll get us into the van. We’re just up here for right now because we really need to get out of here. You doing okay?”  
Aaron couldn’t even speak he was so overwhelmed.  
Murray was having the freaking time of his life though, that was for sure.  
“HANG ON TIGHT EVERYONE AND BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELTS! Welcome to AIR MURRAY!”  
Aaron yelped as Murray drove the car up a huge wooden ramp which made the car literally skyrocket high above the street and crash onto the freaking ground with such high speed, Aaron literally thought he was getting whiplash.  
Oh god, I think I am literally going to be sick…  
There were so many security vehicles behind them it wasn’t even funny.   
No matter what Murray did, there were multiple vans still on their tails chasing them when the tried to take shortcuts.  
This eventually led them to be trapped in a dead end.  
Aaron looked around frantically for a way out or even another street they could all go on, but there was nothing.  
“Oh no….”  
Sly then took this short moment of the van being stopped to open the door and get himself into the front seat, and told Aaron to get into the backseat.  
Bentley and Murray looked at Aaron as if he had seven tails at that moment.  
Bentley narrowed his eyes at Sly, “Uh…Sly why is there a random stranger in our van?”  
Sly chuckled, “Oh yea! Forgot. Guys, meet our newest member, he’s the guy I saved from those guards earlier. Plus he told me that he is very experienced as a healer and supposedly, a lovely dancer. Isn’t that right, Aaron?”  
Aaron blushed slightly, “Y-yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you all, please forgive my intrusion though. I only wish to help.”  
Murray smiled brightly. “Wow! A new member? Sly, this is so exciting! We haven’t had new members ever since that time Dimitri and Penelope helped us out with Dr. M. Oh, by the way, the name’s Murray!”  
A look of concern washed over Bentley’s face as his mind went to Penelope.  
God he was so worried.  
He didn’t show it….but he was thinking about her every single second he first discovered she was gone.  
Was she kidnapped?  
Oh god Penelope, wherever you are please be alright…  
The world just isn’t the same without you…

“And I’m Bentley. But further introductions are going to have to wait til later! We have to get out of here, pronto! I just need to find that wire…”  
Sly looked at Bentley who was frantically trying to find the wires that he needed in order to make the van successfully travel through time.  
“Bentley, is everything alright over there? Not to rush you, but those guards are getting closer to us…”  
The turtle then shouted triumphantly, “Found it! Whenever you are ready Murray, step on it and don’t let go!”  
Murray smiled and then pressed his foot on the gas pedal as hard as he could, sending the van into high speed in seconds.  
Aaron yelled, “We are going to crash right into them! AHHHHH!!”  
Bentley then reassured, “Don’t worry, if my machine does what it is supposed to do, instead of crashing we should be out of here in minutes.”  
Sly, Murray, Aaron, and Bentley all screamed as the van started to go so fast they literally felt as if they were practically warping at lightspeed.  
Blue and white streaks of lighting started to spark all around them, and within moments all that was left of the van back in Paris was a license plate laying on the ground.

To be Continued……


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang arrives in Japan. Aaron has no idea what is going on.

Aaron legit had no idea where they were and what the literal hell was going on.  
Five minutes ago they were in Paris and now…..they appeared to be in some kind of forest??  
There were no modern buildings to be found, only numerous ancient Japanese buildings that were heavily guarded by boar guards.  
He looked at Sly, Murray, and Bentley with great confusion.  
“Woah, woah, woah…can someone please explain what in god’s name is going on here? I thought you guys were just stealing some dagger from the museum and now we are…..where even ARE we?!”  
Bentley facepalmed and narrowed his eyes at Sly, “You mean you didn’t tell him any of this yet?!”  
Sly gave a sheepish smile as he started to get out of the van.  
“I…uh….didn’t really get the chance to back in Paris, but don’t worry Bentley I will explain everything to him now.”  
Aaron looked at Sly, still wearing a very confused and alarmed look on his face.  
“Explain to me what? Is something wrong?”  
Sly sighed as he tried to think of an easy way to explain the whole ancestor issue.  
“Ok, Aaron, here’s the situation. I told you I was Sly Cooper, right? I didn’t really tell you WHAT I was though…and the thing is, I am actually a thief. Not only that, but I come from a long, long, looooooong line of thieves. Here is the catch, we aren’t just any ordinary thieves, we are thieves that only steal from other master thieves or criminals…hence why, me and the guys were casing that museum back in Paris.”  
Aaron nodded slightly.  
Hm, a thieving family? Wow, I definitely haven’t met anyone like that before.  
“I see….but what made you want to come here? How did we even come here?”  
Bentley joined in, while adjusting himself in his wheelchair.  
“Well…to put it simply, Sly’s family is in deep, deep shit. There is a book that has been passed down throughout his family for generations known as the “Thievious Raccoonus”, and it contains every tip, trick, or personal story of each ancestor who has ever existed in his family. The major problem is however, that the pages are rapidly disappearing before our eyes, meaning someone or something is literally trying to erase his ancestors out of existence. So….we are using the time machine I built to go back in time and save them.”  
Aaron legit looked like he was going to faint. It was all very, very overwhelming.  
Time travel? Ancestors? Words DISAPPEARING out of a book?!  
All Aaron could think was that when he got up this morning, he certainly didn’t think his night was going to include this time travel stuff, that’s for sure.  
Sly noticed Aaron’s face suddenly going pale, and immediately held onto him to prevent him from falling.  
“Woah, don’t go fainting on us bud, haha. It’s okay, I know it is…a lot to take in, trust me, but we are all going to get through this together.”  
The dazed fox felt a bit better hearing the raccoon’s gentle and understanding words.   
Sly had this uncanny ability of making him feel instantly better with the way he said things.   
Aaron couldn’t explain it…but he just made him feel so safe and protected.  
Oh gosh, am I crushing on a man I BARELY even know?! How is that even possible? The last time I felt this way about someone was…well…actually I can’t remember.   
I guess this is really the first time someone has really made me feel this way…  
“Thank you Sly, I feel a bit better. I can’t imagine who would be horrible enough to try to erase your family though, Sly.…I mean WHO does that? I am so sorry you have to go through this. Whoever they are, I will do anything to help you bring them to justice, I promise.”  
Sly smiled, as he truly appreciated Aaron’s sympathy.   
He didn’t show it on the outside, but Sly was very, very anxious and worried about this whole ordeal.  
He got nauseous just thinking about what horrible things they might be doing to his family.  
I mean…he didn’t even know who the hell was behind this, and neither what awaited them here in Feudal Japan.  
However, that one shred of sympathy from Aaron made him feel better.   
It made him feel as if even though his world was crumbling, there was a tiny bit of hope he could grasp on to.   
“Thank you… I truly appreciate it.”  
Bentley then peered through the tall bamboo bush and gaze around the vicinity.  
Guards were swarming around the place, and they looked really strong too.  
Luckily, Bentley was able to quickly snatch a news scroll from one of the buildings they were close to and put it in his bag.  
“Okay everyone, before we do anything, we need to find a hideout. Any ideas?”  
They all looked around their surroundings for a bit but didn’t really see anything promising.  
Aaron then peered around by the waterfalls and saw that there seemed to be a sizeable underground door by the buildings facing the water, and figured that was an option.  
Then again he had never picked out a hideout before so…he wasn’t exactly sure what the criteria for a good one was.  
“Uh…how about that place over there, guys? It looks…covered enough… I think?”  
The gang then walked closer to it and began to walk inside.  
Sly patted Aaron on the shoulder happily.  
“Yep, this’ll do. Good eye! I can’t believe I missed that though.”  
When they finally settled inside and got comfortable, Bentley laid the scroll out onto the table and the four of them saw pictures of Sly’s ancestor, Rioichi Cooper…in prison.  
“Apparently, Rioichi has been imprisoned in this new maximum-security jail known as the Saiaki Prison, allegedly for serving the shogun rotten sushi. It also says he is being sentenced to death sometime this week.”  
Aaron’s eyes widened in surprise and he then shook his head in astonishment.   
Well, this is off to a great start.   
“Oh gosh, that poor guy. I would assume though an ancestor of someone as kind as Sly would never do something that horrible though…I mean, right?”  
Sly placed his fingers under his chin and nodded.  
“Yeah, I agree. It definitely sounds like someone set Rioichi up, big time. We have to figure out a way to get him out of there, and fast. Bentley, I’m ready to go when you are.”  
Bentley nodded and started to type on his computer.  
“Alright, I am just going to need you to do some camera work for me out there, just so we can get an idea of what we are working with here.”  
Sly grabbed his cane and hat and started walking towards the door.  
“On it. I’ll let you know when I get to the job site, Bentley.”  
Aaron didn’t know what to do…but he felt guilty doing nothing and having Sly do all the work.  
“Bentley, do you think I should go with him? Maybe he might need help..”  
Bentley shook his head.  
“Not until we know what is out there, Aaron. Plus, you are practically defenseless which makes you an easy target for those brute boar guards. Sly can handle himself, he has done tons of missions like this before.”  
Aaron frowned a bit. He knew every word was true, but it still sucked to hear.  
Defenseless…who am I kidding…I am already weighing this gang down. They probably would have been better off without such a weakling like m-  
Murray and Sly noticed Aaron’s solemn face.  
“Aw, cheer up there Aaron! It’s not so bad being benched, heck Bentley and I are benched for the majority of missions anyways. We all can hang out while Sly’s gone! We have movies and games and also food, if you are hungry!”  
Sly then came over and spoke gently.  
“Don’t worry, Aaron. I’ll take you with me on some missions in a bit, I promise. But for right now, just sit tight. I don’t even want to go out there myself to be honest.”  
If I had the choice, I would stay here and get to know you better. Talk the night away with you…about anything and everything.  
Aaron’s frown melted away into a beaming smile as he pulled out a set of supplies from his bag excitedly and handed them to Sly.  
“I am definitely going to look forward to that! However, for now, take these. In case you get severely hurt by the guards. It’s a cream that is mainly used for burns and scrapes.”  
Sly smiled again, really touched that he cared enough to give this to him.  
“Oh, why thank you. I will definitely use it if I need to, but hopefully, if all goes well I won’t need to haha.”  
A couple hours later…  
Aaron and Murray were furiously competing against each other at ping pong, in which they were currently tied with who won the most.  
Murray was laughing excitedly.  
“No one beats the Murray at ping pong! I’ll have you know I have been undefeated champion for 4 years straight now!”  
Aaron chuckled as he furiously swung his ping pong mallet as the ball came over to him.  
“Challenge accepted! Whoever wins will get the last of the mint ice cream in the freezer!”  
Bentley was currently chatting with Sly as he was out in the village.  
“How’s everything out there, Sly? You notice anyone suspicious?”  
“Now that you mention it Bentley, this tiger doesn’t look like he fits in here. I’ll send a pic.”  
Bentley then received a pic of a tiger with a black jumpsuit with yellow stripes on the sides and two katanas hoistered on his back.  
His eyes widened in surprise behind his big glasses.  
“Holy crap Sly, I recognize this guy! I think he is wanted by Interpol for overthrowing several small countries. If I am correct, this is not going to be a walk in the park to deal with that’s for sure.”  
Aaron and Murray could be heard from the next room, even though the door was sort of closed.  
They were currently yelling and laughing away, sounding like they were having the time of their lives.  
It came to the point where Bentley couldn’t even hear himself think while trying to do important research on the suspicious tiger.  
“Guys, would you please keep it down in there?! I am doing computer work in here! Murray, please don’t break anything either, that table is new!”  
Murray sheepishly replied, speaking in a bit of a softer voice.  
“Oh…ahaha, sorry lil guy. Me and Aaron were getting pretty serious in this ping pong match.”  
Aaron playfully responded with a smirk.  
“A ping pong match that I was totally winning, if I may add.”  
Before Murray could respond, Bentley interjected.  
“Sly was able to grab some photos from certain places in this village, including who imprisoned Rioichi. I looked up the questionable man on Interpol, and apparently my suspicions were absolutely correct! His name is El Jefe, a Cuban mercenary who has done countless war crimes and has been on the run from the police for years.”  
Aaron observed the images of the man from the computer and from the photos that Sly had taken.  
Not going to lie he looked a bit intimidating.  
Then again, he should have expected nothing less from a highly successful mercenary.  
I seriously don’t want to ever get near THAT guy…he looks super terrifying.  
“Bentley, he looks really big and strong. How on earth are we ever going to defeat someone like that?!”  
Murray chuckled as he kept on studying the photos on Bentley’s screen.  
“Not to worry Aaron, I assure you I could take him out with a couple of punches! Haha.”  
Bentley adjusted his glasses closer to his face.  
“I don’t know Murray…I think even you should be careful around him. He looks dangerous, even for you alone. We are going to have to be careful if we are going to take him down. Atleast, until we get our hands on Rioichi.”  
Bentley then suddenly got an idea and spoke into his headset.  
“Hey, Sly you hear me?”  
Sly responded.  
“Loud and clear, Bentley. What’s up?”  
“I have an idea about how you’ll be able to get into that prison. Try to find some spare armor that the guards may be carrying on them, and wear it. That should do the trick.”  
Sly confirmed through the binocucom.  
“On it, Bentley. With luck, when I get back to the hideout Rioichi will be by my side.”  
Aaron was a little worried for Sly’s safety.   
I mean by the way that Bentley described it…the place sounds like a death trap.  
“Bennie, please tell him to be careful. We don’t need him getting locked up too.”  
Bentley was surprised by the sudden nickname, but liked the sound of it all the same.  
“Don’t worry Aaron, I am keeping an eye on him.”  
He then suddenly felt a wave of fatigue wash over him.  
He had been spending an entire day dancing at the theatre after all.  
My gosh, I feel like I can sleep for a week right now….I strained my poor ankles too much at work today.  
He then went to go lay down on the couch and grabbed a blanket.   
Within no time he was out cold.  
Only to be woken up by a certain familiar voice whispering in his ear a couple hours after, accompanied with a gentle nudge.  
“Hey there sleepyhead, want to go out for a little night stroll with me?”  
Aaron groggily opened his eyes and spoke, “S-Sly, you’re back already? What time is it?”  
Sly chuckled softly.  
“It’s about 2 am, haha…I just got back from rescuing Rioichi from the prison.”  
Aaron yawned and suddenly wore a slight smile on his face.   
“That’s good to hear. Is he okay? Got any broke bones, bruises or scrapes? I am fully prepared for any injury-”  
Sly shook his head.  
“No, no he is perfectly fine, I promise. Him, Bentley, and Murray are all sleeping for the night though. You should have seen Murray, he was practically snoring in his bowl of chips, haha.”  
Aaron giggled a bit, still half awake.  
“Alright…I guess I can stay up for a little adventure with you haha…”  
Sly was so happy at that response…he had been practically dying to do this with Aaron all evening.  
“Shall we be off then, Ronnie? I got a certain place I saw while scouting the village that I would love to show you.”


End file.
